ETH Zurich student recreates all of Switzerland in Minecraft

A 22-year-old ETH Zurich student has recreated all of Switzerland at a 1:1 scale in the video game Minecraft, using software that converts Swiss geodata into virtual blocks. The project, called Manifold Blocks, uses data from Swisstopo, the Swiss federal mapping agency, to automatically place terrain, buildings, and forests, with each block representing one square meter. The student developed the tool after initially using the data for 3D-printed landscape models. The entire country is available in early access on his website, with the UNESCO-listed Jungfrau-Aletsch region free to download and full access starting at 15 francs. The student sees potential educational uses for geography classes, though he has no plans to recreate other countries due to a lack of openly available detailed geodata elsewhere.